Well, this is a first for us: we’ve never had a Mountain Song Odalisque come up for sale on the preowned market before! That alone should speak to the quality of this instrument, but humor us with a more thorough treatment (we do like talking about guitars, after all).

Dramatically figured Claro Walnut back and sides, Carpathian Spruce top, the interlocking rosette that Ken Jones has perfected, arm and rib bevels, Cosmo Black Gotohs—the list goes on. The voice is balanced between quick trebles and a warm lower mid response; the bass is focused. Responds well to a light touch, and if you dig in a bit the projection ramps up a lot. A natural choice for fingerstyle in standard tuning, DADGAD, or beyond.

Ken recently went over this 2013 Odalisque and gives it a clean bill of health. Fit and finish remains flawless. This is a rare opportunity to own a rare bird; who knows the next time another Mountain Song Guitar will be available?

We are extremely pleased to bring you this incredible custom ordered Mountain Song Odalisque in Tasmanian Tiger Myrtle and Alpine Spruce. We have known Ken for a long time, he has worked with us here at the shop behind the scenes for years, and has grown to be a truly great friend, Luthier, and repairman. We count on Ken. Ken’s evolution as a guitar builder has been a great joy to watch, he was building great guitars when we first met him, certainly, but now he is building a different kind of beast altogether. So good in fact that Dream guitars owner Paul Heumiller decided he even needed a Mountain song guitar for himself! This Odalisque represents everything we like to see in a custom built guitar, Incredible tone and playability of course and a great synthesis between builder and client. Ken and his client thought the Tiger Myrtle looked unusually like a Tasmanian Tigers pelt. They decided to run with that idea and included some great inlays of Tiger paws on the fingerboard and a Tasmanian Tiger on the head stock.

Now lets get to fun part, the tone. This Odalisque has trebles that will melt butter, they are powerful and warm without any shrillness, while the bass through mids are expertly balanced like few builders are able to achieve. This instrument is a wonder, we are sad that we didn’t get to keep around the shop a while longer! Without question Ken Jones is one of the up and coming “Big Boys” in the Luthiery community, keep both eyes on Mountain Song guitars, we sure are.

Here we have a Mountain Song Odalisque model small-bodied guitar in stunning Ziricote and master-grade Alpine Spruce.

Who knew Cedar could be so loud? Kevin Muiderman, apparently. This 2012 Muiderman Wave has a double Cedar top, Brazilian Rosewood back and sides, and enough volume and sustain to rattle the windows on the entire block. This model was originally developed for Martin Simpson, and features a slight body taper (the bass side is a bit narrower than the treble side) with the fretboard tapered in the opposite direction to keep your left hand comfortable. Additionally, Kevin installed an arm bevel and soundport, as well as gold EVO frets and a Florentine Cutaway.

This is the sort of guitar that goes from 0 to 100 with even a light touch. Kevin’s double top technique and use of composite braces makes for explosive projection and note clarity. You’ll be able to pick out each note in crisp detail. The neck carve is a smooth C shape, and the nut comes in at 1 11/16” for quick left hand work.

This Muiderman Wave is packing some serious heat.

Other keywords: brazilain, double-top, gotoh, koa bindings, pinless bridge

Bluegrass cannon, indeed! This Dreadnought from David Musselwhite’s bench has got enough firepower to level a city block, but has a precision voice capable of sniping a fly on the tuner of the banjo player next door. Musselwhite, a legend in the vintage Martin repair world, also builds an incredible guitar himself: this Dreadnought compares quite favorably against many of our old-school Martins.

And just look at this set of Brazilian Rosewood! We didn’t know it existed in such straight-grained varieties. Creamy Appalachian Spruce for the top with a forward bracing pattern gives the voice an expansive bass response, but the middle and upper registers do not suffer at all; rather, the entire voice is articulate and precise, making this Dreadnought an excellent candidate for the guitarist who plays fingerstyle as well as with flatpicks. This guitar is only three years old (fresh off the bench in 2013), with virtually no play wear, but it sounds like a much older, opened-up Martin D-28.